Chapter 105. The Realm of Talent (2)
Smack!
Eun-Ho grabbed Swear-Master’s shoulder and demanded, “Does it say you’re collecting the parameters required for trait activation?”
The Swear-Master, startled, nodded quickly. “Huh? Y-yeah.”
[The Prince from the Bureau of Investigation chuckles, saying a new, most vulgar ability is about to be born.]
[The Night-Shift Fairy from the Bureau of Audit claps, eager to witness the birth of an unprecedented unique ability.]
[The Newbie from the Bureau of Corporate Relations shouts to wait just a little, promising to bring along their fellow rookies.]
[A donation of 500 Welfare Points has been made!]
It’s absurd, but if this could strengthen his combat power, then the story’s different, Eun-Ho thought.
“Summon.”
Eun-Ho drew out the vine he had cut from Namsan Tower. It was the same one he had once used to bind the twin ghosts.
“W-what the hell are you trying to do?! Why are you pulling that out?!”
With that, he lashed it forward.
“Aaagh! You’re killing me!”
“... This won’t kill you.”
Eun-Ho bound Seung-Tae, who screamed like he was dying when Eun-Ho didn’t even use a blade.
“W-wait, this isn’t poisoned, is it?! Let me go! I said let go!”
“If you don’t want that, do you want me to make you look like them instead?”
“Oh shit!”
Seung-Tae’s eight underlings were already lying on the ground in bloody heaps.
“Kuk...”
“You damn m-monster!”
Eun-Ho merely tied him up instead of finishing him off because he still had some use.
“Hey, Swear-Master.”
“Oh, come on! What the hell is with Swear-Master!”
“Keep going.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Swearing. Do it as fast, as much, and as varied as you can. If it works, repeat it.”
“Huh?”
Swear-Master stared at Eun-Ho in disbelief, as though he had misheard. He had always cursed freely when no one asked for it, but now that Eun-Ho gave him the stage, his tongue seemed tied.
Eun-Ho pressed until he got a reluctant agreement. “Just let it all out.”
In that moment, he caught the sound of a commotion swelling around them.
“Hey! What are you doing!”
“You can’t just tie someone up like that! Let him go right now!”
Seung-Tae’s followers had gathered, circling Eun-Ho and his group, their voices rising in hostility.
[The Prince from the Bureau of Investigation demands to know who all these people are.]
[The Crow from the Bureau of Management clenches their fist, saying a real man should be able to swat them down in one stroke.]
[The Night-Shift Fairy from the Bureau of Audit reminds that since you already handled six-to-one, now it’s time for sixty-to-one.]
Then, from the crowd emerged a familiar face.
“Kim Ji-Woong?!”
“Ji-Eun?”
That man is...
Eun-Ho remembered him from before, when he had first crossed paths with Seung-Tae and glimpsed him in the crowd. Tall, polished in appearance, with round glasses. His face bore an uncanny resemblance to Ji-Eun’s, so much so that man was basically Ji-Eun with glasses.
Ji-Eun rushed forward in shock, shocked, and grabbed the young man by the wrist. “Why are you with someone like this? Don’t tell me you’ve been with them this whole time?”
It was Ji-Eun’s younger brother, the one who was Jae-Hyuk’s age, and had always been known as a gifted student. Eun-Ho had assumed they’d meet him eventually since Ji-Eun’s sensing skill had confirmed he was alive and unharmed. However, he hadn’t expected it to be like this.
“What’s going on here, Ji-Eun? What did Seung-Tae Hyung even do to deserve this?”
“Kim Ji-Woong, are you out of your mind? Why are you taking his side?!”
“No, why are you acting like this? This is a crime, plain and simple!”
It seemed like Ji-Eun’s brother had also become one of Seung-Tae’s followers.
“C-crime?!”
Ji-Eun’s brother blocked his sister’s words with a blank, stunned expression.
And he’s smart?
Eun-Ho thought, then dismissed it as a false smartness. He could’ve been the kind that only appeared clever on the surface. Still, the comment spread through the crowd like a ripple.
“I’m scared...”
“What is this all of a sudden?!”
“They tied someone up...”
People started to worry. They feared Eun-Ho and his group were the kind of thugs who’d use force to put everyone down.
“Shit, are you guys seriously blaming us? That bastard Myung Seung-Tae started it!” Swear-Master poured out a storm of curses, furious, but that alone did not resolve anything.
“Don’t you dare open your mouth—”
“Ugh, his words are so vulgar...”
Words wouldn’t fix the situation.
“That’s enough.”
“What do you mean enough?!”
From their perspective, it was easy to be indignant. They didn’t know the whole story. No one could reliably tell friend from foe at the moment. Hence, caution was the natural response when someone showed overwhelming force. There was no guarantee that people from the same country wouldn’t stab them in the back.
“Hyungnim! More people keep showing up! Wouldn’t it be better to finish this quickly and clean up?” Jae-Hyuk pleaded with a worried face.
Eun-Ho shook his head. “No. This isn’t about Myung Seung-Tae right now.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s about the atmosphere.”
If the mood kept turning hostile, nothing good would come of it—neither for them, nor for the survivors gathered there.
We also need to get the talent-show stage prepped soon, too, Eun-Ho thought.
Therefore, he needed to change the tone.
“You said your name was Ji-Woong, right?” Eun-Ho asked.
“Huh?”
“Can we talk for a moment?”
***
“So... What I’m trying to say is...”
Ji-Woong frowned and asked sharply, “Are you asking me if I’m tagging along because I’m forced to?”
“Yeah. If that’s right, I’ll help. If not, I won’t get involved.”
There was something about Ji-Woong’s eyes. They seemed dull, like someone sleep-deprived.
“I want to look after you because you’re Ji-Eun’s brother, but I’m also not the type to force someone into something.”
It seemed Ji-Woong had something he wanted to share, but a silence followed.
Ji-Woong blinked, then said again, his voice strangely earnest, “Seung-Tae Hyung is the man who saved my life. To repay that debt, I have to help more.”
The line sounded solemn considering this person appeared sleep deprived.
Hmm... So he truly owed his life to that man? But still...
“How exactly are you helping?” Eun-Ho asked.
“I’m lending him something.”
“Lend him what?”
“My stats!”
Eun-Ho blinked in confusion.
“Up until now, the stats I’ve lent are: Stamina 20, Strength 10, Agility 8, Endurance 15—”
“Wait. Hold on. You lent them? You lent stats?”
Ji-Woong simply nodded, as if it were the most ordinary thing.
“... Why?” Eun-Ho asked.
“Seung-Tae Hyung saved my life. To repay him I have to help more,” Ji-Woong repeated, unruffled.
If Eun-Ho had understood correctly, this was Ji-Woong’s ability.
“So, that’s your skill?” Eun-Ho asked.
“Yes.”
“So you have the ability to give and take stats, and yet you’ve been acting as his lackey all this time?”
“Well, it’s not exactly being a lackey—”
Out of sheer disbelief, Eun-Ho cut him off. Ji-Woong went blank for a moment, then repeated the same solemn line about repaying the life debt.
“Stop. I’ll memorize it,” Eun-Ho said, waving his hand and silencing him.
He could finally understand how the man had survived until now, and what the man’s ability actually was. Realizing this, Eun-Ho was ready to change his plans.
“So beating him up won’t do. I need to give him a lesson.” Eun-Ho said flatly.
“Huh? But Seung-Tae Hyung isn’t a bad person...”
He decided to try to kill two birds with one stone.
“You’ll be receiving this lesson too,” Eun-Ho told Ji-Woong.
“Huh?” Ji-Woong answered, bewildered.
***
“P-please, let Seung-Tae Hyung go. I’m telling you he’s not a bad person!” Ji-Woong pleaded.
“All right, enough,” Eun-Ho replied, letting the repeated pleas wash past him like recorded lines.
He turned back toward his group. Just then, a chorus of cheerful beeps cut through the tension.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
It was a flood of messages.
[A new observer has joined!]
[A new observer has joined!]
[A new observer has joined!]
...
[The Morning Star from the Sales Department greets everyone, saying they heard fights never stop here.]
[The Old Guy from the Sales Department waves and says they followed the youngster in.]
[The Catty Cat from the Bureau of Investigation smiles and says that it’s been a while!]
[The Druid from the Bureau of Investigation looks around asking when the drama will start!]
“Why did so many people show up all of the sudden?” Eun-Ho muttered.
“Huh?” Jae-Hyuk replied.
“Ah, I’m just talking to myself.”
[The Newbie from the Bureau of Corporate Relations sniffs proudly, saying they advertised it so hard.]
[The Prince from the Bureau of Investigation chuckles, saying a new, most vulgar ability is about to be born.]
[The Night-Shift Fairy from the Bureau of Audit claps, eager to witness the birth of an unprecedented unique ability.]
[The Newbie from the Bureau of Corporate Relations shouts to wait just a little, promising to bring along their fellow rookies.]
Ah. So these are the fellow rookies he’d promised to bring earlier, Eun-Ho thought.
Whatever the case, the sudden influx of observers left the area split cleanly into three groups.
“Hyungnim! You made it!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.
“Mister! It looks like two thousand people showed up here. What do we do now?”
“Where’s Myung Seung-Tae?”
“Ah, Noonim is guarding him!”
First, Eun-Ho’s own people had formed a ring around the tightly bound Seung-Tae and stood watch until Eun-Ho arrived.
“Free him now! You’re not gangsters! What are you doing?”
“He didn’t do anything! He just asked you to have a conversation!”
A crowd of women protested in a near-chant, demanding Seung-Tae’s release. Then, there were the snarky onlookers, clicking their tongues and sighing.
“This vibe is rotten.”
“We’re not going to kill someone because they come in last at the talent show, right? It’s already wrecked.”
“There are idols here so I thought it would be easy, but damn. I can already tell it’s screwed up.”
“Tone it down!”
Ugh, the mood... Eun-Ho thought.
It had skewed so badly from the start that it felt irreparable. What a catastrophe. If this were a college group project, not even the professor could salvage it now. However, collapsing together and letting everything fall apart was not an option.
“Young Man!”
“Mister!”
His teammates found him and started throwing out complaints.
“This is serious, Young Man! No one’s in a good mood!. We can’t even do the talent show!”
“I think we’re screwed. What do we do now? If we fight among ourselves, how are we supposed to do team activities?”
Between the cleaning lady’s dramatics and Yeo-Jin’s exasperated sigh, people clustered in small defensive circles, glaring at everyone else. Everyone was so on edge they wouldn’t show their powers, let alone perform.
At this rate, not only would the talent show be impossible, but future trials would be affected too. Instead of uniting to face other zones, they would have to point knives at those standing next to them. It was the worst possible teamwork, but Eun-Ho didn’t flinch.
“We have to do it,” Eun-Ho said calmly.
“Do what?” someone asked.
“Prepare the stage and build cohesion. We’ll do it.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
The two looked at him with sleepy, half-open eyes and Jae-Hyuk balled his fist. “Y-yeah, right, Hyungnim! If it doesn’t work, we’ll make it work!”
It was not some dramatic battle cry, but enough resolve to move people.
[The Catty Cat from the Bureau of Investigation smiles and says that it’s been a while!]
[The Druid from the Bureau of Investigation looks around asking when the drama will start!]
Considering the observers’ reactions, Eun-Ho had an idea.
“I thought of a way to kill not just two, but maybe three birds with one stone.”